Henry Knox’s Cannons

Date

Henry Knox’s Cannons

1. After the British withdrew from Concord in April of 1775, and even though they had driven Rebels from Charlestown (Bunker Hill) in June, they found themselves besieged in the Boston area.

2. In November of 1775, newly-appointed General George Washington requested that Knox bring in his 59 cannons from Fort Ticonderoga in New York and place them on the Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston.

3. To deaden the sound, Knox had the wagon wheels wrapped in straw.

4. The next morning, British General Howe faced 59 cannon aimed towards Boston. After planning and scrapping an attack during a storm, he ordered the evacuation of British troops and loyalists to Nova Scotia.

5. The first major strategic success for the Colonists against the Crown.